"We all declare for liberty, but in using the same word we do not all mean the same thing." - Abraham Lincoln

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

St. Josemaria Escriva on Surrender

As well as having given you abundant and effective grace, the Lord has given you a brain, a pair of hands and intellectual powers so that your talents may yield fruit. God wants to work miracles all the time - to raise the dead, make the deaf hear, restore sight to the blind, enable the lame to walk... - through your sanctified professional work, which you will have turned into a holocaust that is both pleasing to God and useful to souls. (The Forge, 984)

Your boat — your talents, your hopes, your achievements — is worth nothing whatsoever, unless you leave it in Christ’s hands, allowing him the freedom to come aboard. Make sure you don’t turn it into an idol. In your boat by yourself, if you try to do without the Master, you are — supernaturally speaking — making straight for shipwreck. Only if you allow, and seek, his presence and captaincy, will you be safe from the storms and setbacks of life. Place everything in God’s hands. Let your thoughts, the brave adventures you have imagined, your lofty human ambitions, your noble loves, pass through the heart of Christ. Otherwise, sooner or later, they will all sink to the bottom together with your selfishness. (Friends of God, 21)